Board rejects bids for netting at Glen Rock High School baseball field

The Glen Rock school board approved funds to install netting around the high school baseball field. Recent bids for the project, however, have not met the district's standards.

A dearth of viable contractor bids recently discussed by Glen Rock school officials has impacted another district project.

At a special July 18 Board of Education meeting in the district office, trustees rejected bids received on July 8 for the installation of protective netting around the high school baseball field.

The action marked the third budgeted initiative in recent weeks to be delayed by a lack of bids, quotes well beyond project budgets, or contractors' failure to provide necessary documentation or certification.

Saying the situation "falls into the same category of the other projects we had issue with," district Business Administrator/Board Secretary Michael Rinderknecht said the project was to be re-advertised last weekend, and that he expected to open a second round of bids on Aug. 21. If a suitable low bid emerges, a contract could be awarded by trustees at the next scheduled BOE meeting on Aug. 25. Citing the time remaining until the next baseball season, he noted that the current delay is not critical.

At the Friday session at which trustees had hoped to award the baseball netting contract, they instead rejected the low bid of $262,900 submitted by contractor Net Connection, LLC, because the firm did not submit a Consent of Surety document, and because it is not classified by the New Jersey Department of the Treasury's Division of Property Management and Construction (DPMC).

Under state law, the absence of the consent document and DPMC classification are "material, non-waiveable defects" in public contract bidding, as stated in the text of the resolution rejecting the proposals.

The next lowest bidder, Carjen Fence Co., Inc., also failed to meet those criteria, but the deficiency also proved irrelevant since the firm's $445,100 bid dwarfed the BOE's $261,800 budget for the installation.

Following the rejection of the quotes, trustees authorized Rinderknecht to re-advertise the project, "consistent with the needs and desires of the school district."

In June, the contract-award process was similarly stymied for two other projects - a half-roof replacement at Hamilton School, and the retrofitting of "man trap" vestibules at all district buildings, similar to the secured space that divides the outer doors from the lobby area.

At the June 23 BOE meeting, officials reported that no bids were received for the security project budgeted at $188,000, and that only two came in for the roof work, each far exceeding the board's $225,000 earmark.

Rinderknecht said it is hoped that the school vestibule contract can be successfully re-advertised in time for work to begin in late summer, which would likely then carry over into the fall school term on an after-hours basis.

The Hamilton project is now pushed forward to the summer of 2015, assuming a contract is awarded next spring, due to the inability to execute a roof installation when school is in session.

Officials cited several factors for the recent bidding woes at the June meeting.

Saying he had never observed this level of difficulty before, Rinderknecht said the New Jersey State Department of Education (NJDOE) this year awarded special development grants to a number of school districts for various building projects, "long before we struck our (capital) budget." With state commitments funding 40 percent of those initiatives, "many districts got out in front of us" on many bigger-ticket projects than Glen Rock's. As a result, fewer companies than usual were available when subsequent projects were posted.

In addition, he said that contractors are increasingly "going after larger contracts, and projects that are clean," meaning uncomplicated and lucrative.

"In the case of Hamilton, our architect told us that it's a very clean project" that can be executed quickly, Rinderknecht said. "But nobody wants it (at $225,000). They want a $2 million project. So that will now force us to defer re-bidding to next spring,"

Regarding the entry vestibules, he said that, at present, most school security-related work implies contractor logjams.

"Security is the buzzword within school districts. Many systems are out there bidding projects, and there are many districts in Bergen County doing that (man trap) work. There again, the companies are being very selective," he said, resulting in the total absence of bids the first time.

BOE President Sheldon Hirschberg said, "Another issue we face is that, because of the great recession, the number of contractors in the state of New Jersey is down by about 25 percent; they simply went out of business. So there are not as many companies out there bidding."

However, other security enhancements have continued. The district is upgrading 60 interior security cameras at the high school ($111,789), adding new cameras there ($20,000) and installing exterior surveillance cameras at the Central, Hamilton and Coleman elementary schools. New cameras are already in place at Byrd School, due to ongoing vandalism there that increased last summer.

Other projects budgeted in the $1.7 million capital plan include drainage remediation at the high school's Little Theatre and courtyard area. Earlier in June, the board awarded a $139,229 contract for that project to D.R. Mullen Construction.